Big Ten hockey and buyers remorse

Not sure what everyone is complaining about, Michigan has 34 games, 14 of which are non-conference. So 41% non-conference.

MSU, Wisky and Minn have really fallen of of late, so the poor competition argument is valid. Sound like the Minn fans are mostly pissed they aren't good anymore. 

 

If the teams in the B1G were playing at their level at historic norms, the league would be awesome (even though everyone would be playing the same 5 teams). Instead, Michigan State and Wisconsin had/have some of the worst teams in their histories, Michigan 2 teams that were bad by recent standards, Minnesota has been underachieving, and Ohio State is even worse than their middling historic average. 

So instead of seeing 4 good teams (UM, UW, MSU, UMINN), an average team (OSU), and a below average team (PSU for their first few years, though they have been the one school to exceed expectations), we get two dumpster fire teams (UW, MSU), 3 average teams (UM, UMINN, PSU) and a below average team (OSU). 

how did the nhl get along for so long with just six teams.  playing the same 5 over and over again.  the conference will expand.  if NE-Omaha can have a team, certainly Lincoln can.

it's quite possible that title lX is holding other schools back from adding hockey.

I miss CCHA. Especially games against ND.

My view is almost entirely based upon self interest; I'm delighted with the conference. Michigan plays here every year. I just took my daughter to th Friday game, chatted with Al Renfrew's daughter, and stood 30 feet from Red Berenson as he coached. It's a piece of home up here in Minnesota. I can understand the ambivalence some have. It's hard to explain, but in college hockey there is a special feel to the regional rivalries. I felt it in Ann Arbor, when a home-and-home against a team like Western was guaranteed to be a raucous epic of hockey in both arenas. I loved the drives to Big Rapids or South Bend for one evening, though snow flurries, to see my team play a game in hostile territory. It was awesome. It's the same up here in Minnesota, but more so. The opponents are close, and people have friends at rival schools, and one can travel to road games, of course. But the high school hockey culture here, unique to this state, really adds to the regional intensity. Players don't billet away from home to play anonymously on junior teams here. They play at home, and then they go somewhere in the area for college. The rosters of teams like SCSU and UMD and NoDak are stocked with players that average hockey fans in Minnesota have known of for years. Players that many saw their kids play with or against. It's special. And it culminated in the Final Five tournament, which always drew extremely well. It was some of the best hockey you could get anywhere. This has been replaced by the antiseptic, expensive, not-sure-of-itself B1G tourney, a huge downgrade. Seriously, the CCHA tournament was works better than the B1G. It's a problem. Add to this the mystifying awfulness of MSU and especially Minnesota arch-rival Wisconsin, and there's just something missing. I think things will ramp up as rivalries grow and B1G teams start playing better, but I understand the ambivalence. To put it in terms that we might better understand, picture this: suppose college football formed two super conferences to narrow the field to really competitive football teams. Michigan winds up with OSU and MSU, and also Oklahoma, Texas, USC, ND, UCLA, and others. Fun, competitive, all that. But we would miss the local feel of playing Wisconsin, Iowa, and others like that. That's B1G hockey.

I was never a fan.  Six teams is too few and I miss the local rivalries with the other in-state teams.  The only positive is having Minnesota and Wisconsin in the league.

 

Funny how Minnesota fans seemed to be among the one so excited about it.

Knew from the start it was going to be a garbage conference, even if the traditionally good teams somehow hit the skids. Unfortunately, they all seemed to do so at once, making the issues even more glaring.

But TV money is gonna TV money. We're stuck with this garbage.

An all Michigan conference would be best

With only one NCAA bid probably and playing the same teams, does this start to effect recruiting and turn hockey into a sport like baseball, where the best recruits go elsewhere?

Do any of you think the league would be better if other B1G schools picked up hockey? Is there any other club B1G hockey out there?

It's dead now. Sadness abounds and yearns for the old days.

Those of you complaining are being way too shortsighted. Wisconsin has been down but they will be successful. OSU will eventually be a decent program you have to think. PSU has everything needed to be a powerhouse. At least wait a few more years to see where things are. I love being able to watch about 10 UM games a year on Btn, it's a lot more than I used to be able to see.

I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for the CCHA. #RIP

The B10 hockey conference is here to stay, but that doesn't mean it's always going to be what it is now.  The timing of starting the conference just coincided with Wisconsin and Michigan State performing at historical lows.  Neither of them is going to stay at that level.  If they're at their "normal" level, this conference is a beast.  The other problem is that there needs to be two more teams in the league.  The B10 needs to be in discussions with the schools that have good club teams//and or new arenas locally.  And if that isn't going to happen, consider Arizona St or Notre Dame.  It is boring playing the same 5 teams for 4 months.

Finally, as a hockey season ticket holder for 20 years before we moved, I do miss the CCHA.  It was fun having rivalries against the smaller schools and the in-state schools.  But even there, things changed.  For a long time, Lake Superior was the biggest games of the year.  But when they couldn't maintain their level, we rotated through other rivalries like Notre Dame, Ferris and Miami (OH).  It the B10 can add a couple teams, the conference can get back to that level.